


I've been the archer (I've been the prey)

by dearericbittle (dutchmoxie)



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Different First Meeting, Fandom Allusions & Cliches & References, Fluff, Idiots in Love, M/M, Stiles Stilinski as Cupid, Writer Derek Hale
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-08
Updated: 2020-02-08
Packaged: 2021-02-27 20:15:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 16,453
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22591600
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dutchmoxie/pseuds/dearericbittle
Summary: Stiles is usually pretty good at being a Cupid - not as good as Allison, she’s much better with a bow. His targets fall in love naturally, with just a little nudge or a visit from a mischievous Cupid to make them see what’s already there. Derek Hale, however? Seems to be immune. And that’s just unacceptable - Stiles has to do something about that.
Relationships: Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski
Comments: 94
Kudos: 911
Collections: Sterek Valentine Week





	I've been the archer (I've been the prey)

**Author's Note:**

> For Sterek valentine week, day #1: Cupid. (And yeah, of course the title is a TSwift lyric - how could I NOT?)
> 
> This is the first of 7 fics for Valentine week. Don't worry, they're not all this long / Don't worry, this is not the longest one. (Pick one)
> 
> I don't know how to explain this fic. I started with Stiles as Cupid, and then writer!Derek happened and there were comments on fandom and... yeah. Tagging this was hard

Being a Cupid was usually kind of awesome, especially in February, or even January, leading up to Valentine’s Day. The humans just got so excited about Valentine’s Day, and about love. While Christmas was for the established relationships, spending time together and settling in with friends and family, Valentine’s Day was for the new lovers. For the first bloom of love, for eyes meeting across a crowded room and…

Yes, Stiles was a bit of a romantic. 

Usually. Because love was wonderful, it made people happy, and Stiles got to watch it happen, got to make it happen. And not in a gross, weird way. He got to get people together in the same place and watch sparks fly, got to shoot arrows (not as perfectly on target as they were when his colleague Allison did it, but whatever) and watch them make people happy. Usually. 

His latest target, however, was not falling in line quite like the others. That damn Derek Hale just dodged his arrows every single time. Either that or he was the first person Stiles had ever met who was immune to a little nudge in love’s direction. 

And that just did not happen. Ever. 

So what was a good Cupid to do except try to figure out who this Derek Hale was, and what he needed in a perfect partner. Stiles was good at this, always had been, and he’d always liked doing the research, but he’d never forgotten the importance of the Spark. 

There was no love without a Spark. 

It seemed like Derek Hale refused to acknowledge that a thing like a Spark even existed, as he went about his solitary life, hardly even interacting with his employees. Sure, he talked to his right hand man Boyd from time to time, but Vernon Boyd was the taciturn type. That meant that there was not a lot of actual conversation going on. 

Sure, they had a connection, managed to talk without needing a whole lot of words. Boyd had somehow managed to teach himself to read Brow language (the Derek Hale dialect), and only needed a few words to get Derek to see the importance of a new idea. 

Sometimes Boyd’s wife Erica - they were an earlier success of Stiles’ - would visit the small office and talk at Derek. She’d tease him and enjoy making him blush, but it hardly ever got her an actual response. 

Even though Derek was witty on paper - Stiles had read some quote from his books - he never seemed to let it out in front of people. He hid behind a pseudonym and smiled rarely if at all. 

That was going to have to change. Like, yesterday. 

It was easy to figure out that Boyd needed an assistant to handle all of the social media stuff for Derek’s books, and well… Stiles was good at spreading love, so he was going to be good at spreading love of a book too. He just knew it. 

And doctoring a resume was child’s play for a quality Cupid like him. So he was the perfect applicant for the position, a college student who needed a job on the side and was totally willing to sign an NDA to keep him from revealing Derek’s identity to his non-existent friends and family. He’d come up with a name (or, well, he’d key-smashed a bunch of times until something Polish-sounding popped up and he decided that he might as well be Polish) and told Boyd sincerely that no one was allowed to call him anything but Stiles. 

All that was left to do was to meet the great Derek Hale. 

“Derek,” Boyd knocked on the office door. “The new guy is here.”

Stiles wondered if Derek was going to bother meeting him at all, seeing as he was basically a hermit and he technically didn’t need to be friendly with the help. Or something along those lines, something Stiles had heard when he was working on a previous target, a deeply closeted lawyer named Jackson. He’d cleared that right up though, a bit of therapy and a visit from an old friend, and voila. Jackson and Danny went from friends to something more romantic. 

As they were always meant to be - after Jackson finally pulled his head out of his ass. 

“Hi,” Stiles smiled at Derek when the door finally opened. “I’m the new guy.” 

Derek was… prime real estate in the romance market. He was extremely attractive (fucking hot, as humans would say), independently wealthy, caring, intelligent, funny, a hard worker… He’d had a rough time of it, but he’d dragged himself to therapy and learned to function normally without a support system. He’d be snapped right up if he opened up to people. 

Stiles was just going to have to be a trial run, here. 

“New guy,” Derek nodded at him. 

“Call me Stiles,” Stiles tried for a joke. “New guy is so… impersonal.” 

Ugh, it was not his best work, but the corners of Derek’s mouth twitched and therefore he was happy to call it a success. It was more of a response than he’d been expecting, and it made him want to push the envelope a little bit more. 

“You must be Derek,” he continued. “Or boss-man, if that’s what you’d prefer. Big guy? Der-Bear? Mister Hale gives me too much of a Mister Grey will see you now vibe, but if that’s more your speed we could do that too. The calling you Mister Hale thing, I mean, not the touching down there and terrible writing thing. Right. I’ll just… Shut up now.” 

Too much? Certainly. He’d already fucked it up. He was much better at dealing with humans from a safe distance, pulling strings and doing research. It was easier when he didn’t have to pretend to be a normal human - because acting had never been his greatest skill. 

He’d made Boyd laugh, though. 

The man of the hour just coughed before speaking. “Derek will be fine.” 

Derek was already fine - like  _ fine _ \- but Stiles thought better of saying that. He’d already said a whole bunch of stuff that probably would keep Derek from talking to him for the foreseeable future. Or, well, ever. 

“Derek it is,” Stiles continued to grin. “I know my paperwork had a selection of the most difficult to use Scrabble tiles that was supposed to be a name, but it’s really just Stiles.” 

Boyd chuckled, and Stiles looked hopefully at Derek for a response - and he just got the same resting angry face he’d seen on Derek back when he was strictly observing. Honestly, at some point Stiles was going to find out what it looked like when Derek smiled or God forbid, actually laughed. And it was going to be glorious. 

“Just Stiles,” Boyd interrupted before he could ramble on some more. “How about you and Derek discuss the channels we’re already using and what you think we could improve. I’m going to take my wife for a nice, long lunch break. Because you can never meet.” 

Stiles desperately wanted to meet Erica - he felt like she’d be on his side in the whole “Derek needs to interact with actual human beings” thing. Which was probably why Derek was nodding in agreement - he did not want them to gang up on him, which was going to happen pretty much immediately when Stiles and Erica met. Yes, he said when, because there was no way he was completing his mission without meeting Erica Boyd-Reyes. 

“Rude,” Stiles pouted. 

“Derek’s sanity is at stake,” Boyd stage-whispered. 

Right, sanity was important if Stiles was ever going to match Derek up with anyone. People liked it when their partner was completely sane and stable - though if they asked Stiles, he thought that was a whole bunch of hooey. Everyone deserved love. 

“Enjoy your lunch,” was all Derek had to say to that. 

And Stiles knew, he just knew, that Derek had overheard everything Boyd had said. 

“Will do, Boss,” Boyd saluted mockingly. “If you somehow forget to eat lunch again, just send me a message and I’ll get you something on my way back.” 

A good man. A great man. The kind of friend that Derek deserved. At least there was Boyd, which meant that Derek at least had someone in his life who made sure he had some nice things. At least Derek was loved in that way. 

“Bye Boyd,” Stiles was going to be a little shit. “Say hi to your wife for me.” 

Boyd’s laugh echoed through the office for a little while after he’d left, and Stiles wanted that warmth to stick around even when Derek clearly wasn’t interested in anything other than a strictly professional discussion of social media and marketing. 

“So, I’m sure we’re woefully behind on the times,” Derek started, sitting down at his desk. “There’s an official Facebook and we update the website pretty regularly, but I’ve never seen the point of having a personal Twitter account. There is one for the books, and Boyd will happily let you take over on that one.” 

And that was it. Clearly. It wasn’t a lot. 

Facebook and a website were nice for the official stuff, for serious announcements and maybe the occasional Facebook giveaway, but there was a lot of untapped potential here. And Stiles knew how to be the right kind of internet troll. He’d learned from Danny, and his own natural wit - which wasn’t always appreciated in his real job. 

So maybe in this fake one...

“Excellent,” Stiles knew that it really wasn’t. “I’m good with memes and Twitter is a great medium to interact with the fans. Instagram would also be an excellent idea, maybe a Tumblr account to interact with the less casual fans. It’ll take some time to build a following, but if we can get the Insta verified quickly, that should really help. I know you’re not interested in being the face of your books, and Instagram is a visual medium, but I’m sure I can manage to get some shots in that don’t reveal your secret identity, Clark Kent.” 

Derek was too scruffy to be Clark Kent, but he did have the glasses, and they were extremely appealing. Some people liked the clean-shaven aesthetic more, but Stiles felt that Derek would be better suited with someone who let him be more natural about his looks. The facial hair he had was pretty well-groomed, and it suited him. Combined with the glasses it gave him a scholarly look, of the hot young professor that all the students drooled over. 

Though teacher-student relationships were frowned upon, up on high. So he wasn’t doing that. 

“Clark Kent?” Derek repeated. 

“Please tell me you didn’t miss the reference,” Stiles would have begged on his knees if it had been necessary. “You’re better than that, Derek. You’re scruffy Superman right now - or well, you will be if you ever take the glasses off. You’re limiting my artistic vision with the secret identity thing, by the way. If your face was on your book jackets, your sales would skyrocket, I’m sure of it. You’re definitely the hottest writer I’ve ever met. Boss. Boss-man. Derek. Sir.” 

This was what the humans called putting one’s foot in one’s mouth. Stiles was really good at it. 

“Thanks?” Derek did a sarcastic brow thing. 

“And a sense of humor too,” Stiles was unable to stop himself. “Be still my heart.” 

A shame that he wasn’t able to tell if Derek was blushing underneath the facial hair. That could have told him a whole lot about what kind of person he was going to need in his life. Stiles firmly believed that Derek needed someone with a sense of humor, someone who drew him out of his shell and allowed him to unleash his personality on the world. 

Because he really did have a wonderful personality - underneath the resting angry face. 

“Are you always like this?” Derek asked. 

“Probably,” Stiles decided to be honest. “I haven’t been around long enough to have the definite statistics, but previous interactions do show that… Not the point.” 

Fuck, that was stupid. Not around long enough? A dead giveaway for those in the know. 

Which, fortunately, Derek was not. 

He just stared at Stiles a little, looking unsure of what to make of him. That made complete sense, of course, so Stiles let it happen, trying not to flush under Derek’s watchful gaze. Jeez, that look was a powerful weapon in and of its own. 

“Tell me about your books,” Stiles tried to find that Spark in Derek. 

Enthusiasm was always a good start when it came to finding a match. Sometimes all it took was finding someone who was enthusiastic about the same things as their match. And sometimes all it took was seeing someone get passionate about something - people who genuinely liked and/or loved things were always more attractive partners than people who spent all their time hating on things. Stiles did have the definite statistics on that. 

“It’s a series,” Derek sheepishly tried to explain, sounding almost embarrassed. 

“I know that much,” Stiles nodded along, trying to get Derek to talk to him. “Boyd told me you wrote the first two books when you were in college, and you managed to get a book deal while you were working on the third novel. Four books have been published, and five will be published soon - Boyd said in a month or so. So that’s the one we need to hype up right now, trying to get people to reread all the books before the new one comes out, maybe.” 

Maybe find a Tumblr fanpage - they’d undoubtedly go all in on that, and he could retweet fan creations and favorite memories and scenes in the books. He hadn’t yet had the time to read all of the books himself, but the fans always remembered the details. Better than the author, sometimes, though maybe not so much in Derek’s case. 

“And the characters?” Stiles was just going to keep trying. “Plot? I mean, I’ve seen them in stores, but I was too busy studying to read them. So you’re going to have to catch me up on at least the basics before I pull a marathon this weekend and read them all in one go.” 

Which was absolutely what he was going to do, since he wasn’t actually a college student who had a bunch of classes he needed to worry about. He basically had all the time in the world to work on Derek, and just Derek, while he was on this assignment. He could read all the books he wanted to read - and right now he just really wanted to read Derek’s books. To figure out how much of Derek was in the book, to do his job right, and because it would show Derek that someone real - not just someone he read about - was interested in what he’d created. 

“You don’t have to read them,” Derek ducked his head. 

“Yes, I do,” Stiles vehemently disagreed. “If I’m going to do an effective job getting people psyched about your newest book, I need to know what I’m talking about. I need to know what the people want to see in the next book - also, I need to read the next book before the people do. Job benefits, negotiated those with Boyd earlier.” 

Derek chuckled, too briefly, before he stopped himself. 

“Werewolves,” he said, seemingly unable to continue talking after that. 

“Awesome,” Stiles was genuinely excited. 

He loved it when humans wrote stories of creatures that they weren’t aware actually existed. Or well, werewolves weren’t in Stiles’ jurisdiction, so maybe they were actually strictly fictional. Though Stiles honestly doubted that, because, well… How much more awesome would life be if werewolves were actually real? Way more awesome, exactly! 

“The main character was born a wolf,” Derek started to find some actual words. “His mother ran the pack when he grew up, and his entire family was made up of wolves. He doesn’t meet his first human until he’s eighteen and on the run.”

Oh, yes, that was… That was a new take on the fish out of water concept that was so prevalent in fantasy novels. It was usually about the humans coming into the world of magic and monsters, and not about the other way around. Stiles could definitely be into hyping this. 

“Alone?” Stiles didn’t want to say too much and break the spell. 

“He’s looking for his sister,” Derek continued. “His older sister ran away to find out more about the human world, and he thinks it’s his fault she left. He leaves a note and runs. Straight into danger. And then he gets stuck as a wolf for a while because of it. He wasn’t supposed to be able to have that skill. He was just supposed to be a beta. The diplomat, not the warrior.” 

It was not the kind of passion he’d been expecting. Rather it was pensive, soft, like Derek identified too much with his male lead. 

“And he makes human friends?” Stiles had to ask.

He was trying to make human friends himself - sort of. Mostly he was trying to make sure that Derek opened himself up to love again, but he was definitely up for making some human friends of his own. Boyd and Erica both seemed like an excellent choice - he wasn’t sure about Derek yet. Derek didn’t seem open to making friends, especially not with an employee, probably. 

“He ends up with a family,” Derek continued. “A seemingly perfect family, parents and their two teenage kids, and a big house with a nice yard. They think he’s a dog.” 

Yep, Stiles definitely wanted to read this story, wanted to read about this werewolf discovering human culture by hiding as a family’s pet dog. He wasn’t quite at the point where he understood how there were multiple books about this guy, but he could stand to hear a bit more. 

“Doesn’t he look like a wolf?” Stiles kept prodding at Derek. 

“Yeah, he does,” Derek nodded. “It’s a running joke, but the kids just ignore it and treat him like a giant dog. Like a friend, which is new to him. He gets to know them, becomes a part of their family, and then he starts to see the cracks in the perfect facade. The Dad drinks too much and stays late at the office, and the Mom spends too much money on frivolous things. The daughter is sleeping with a grad student who’s just supposed to tutor her, and the son is being bullied. But on the outside, they still look like the perfect family. Only the dog sees through it.” 

Ah yes, that catered to the literary acclaim crowd, the people who wanted to look deeper at wealth and prestige and the image people presented to the outside world. This sounded like a character study, not like a plot-heavy novel, and Stiles wondered how that worked in the fantasy market - which really did tend to be focused more on an overarching plot. Usually about saving the town or the country or the world from some big evil. 

The humans liked stories about good triumphing over evil. 

“Because he’s not a dog,” Stiles tried to picture it. 

“Exactly,” Derek paused to write something down in a tattered notebook. “He’s a man, and he’s in love with the daughter. Because she’s beautiful, and smart, and she tells him everything.” 

This was heading nowhere good. Stiles could feel it - it was there in the way Derek talked about this girl, in how mournful he sounded. And since there were so many books, it made sense that it wasn’t as easy as the main character turning back into a human. If it had been that easy, Derek never would have written the second book - let alone the rest of them. 

“Things go wrong, I’m sure,” Stiles had to keep interjecting, because Derek stopped talking again. 

“He finally manages to shift back into his human form because of his love for her,” Derek continued, pointedly not looking at Stiles. “She is terrified - calls him a monster and gets her grad student boyfriend to chase him off. Because he’s a werewolf hunter.” 

And that was the twist - or a part of it anyway. That was where the story turned into more than just the family, and started exploring the bigger world out there. And once again, the story was told from the perspective of the monster, instead of the humans, which made the hunters the true monsters of the story. Stiles wasn’t sure he agreed with that idea - because he’d been surrounded by love for most of his practically immortal life. 

But then again, he’d seen the things humans did for love - to get it, to get rid of it, and everything else related to it. 

“Fuck,” Stiles said, because he liked human curses. 

“He runs away again,” Derek scribbled something in the notebook again. “He has no idea where to find his sister, still. He is all alone. And then… The boy finds him. The son, who doesn’t recognize him. But Tyler - that’s the wolf’s name - knows everything about him. And Dylan, the boy, he could help. If Tyler can win his trust as a human.” 

Ah yes, the names definitely made it a bit easier to picture them - and it made sense that the werewolf had a very normal name, even if he had been raised outside of human norms. The normal name was another way of humanizing him, Stiles was sure of that. Derek was writing this on behalf of the wolves, as a way to show people that werewolves weren’t actually monstrous, or at least, they weren’t all monsters. That was probably the thesis statement of the book, and a message that Stiles was going to use on social media. 

But the true interest for him was in the interplay between Tyler and Dylan. Between a man hiding as a dog (as man’s best friend), and a young man on the cusp of adulthood who’d been hiding behind lies all his life. They had secrets, and did not know they shared some of them, and the reveal was probably going to be beautiful and heart-wrenching. 

Dylan was going to find out that Tyler had been keeping a big secret from him. Hell, maybe he’d find out because Tyler saved his life from a monster or a hunter (probably a hunter, if they were the bad guys in this). It was going to be angsty and beautiful and have a happy ending, where the guys finally found Tyler’s sister, only to realize that wasn’t the end of it. 

Their bond was going to grow, and strengthen, until one day...

“And then they fall in love,” Stiles sighed happily. 

“What?” Derek practically screeched. “The books aren’t about romance! That is not why people are reading them. That’s not what they mean.” 

He slammed the notebook closed before Stiles saw what he’d written and turned away from Stiles, now completely focused on his computer. 

“I need to get back to work,” Derek’s voice was harsh. “Boyd will give you the passwords to the accounts when he gets back from lunch. Please read the books before commenting further.” 

So clearly, that could have gone better. 

* * *

Tumblr agreed with him though, about Tyler and Dylan. 

There were hundreds - possibly thousands - of posts and accounts that were dedicated to the relationship between the two of them. Even though it was not explicitly romantic or sexual in the books, the readers had picked up on a subtle undercurrent of tension that Stiles too had felt when he furtively read the first and second book. And the third and fourth. 

Even though Derek had claimed that romance was not his intention, he had done quite well at laying the foundation for one between those two men. Sure, they were no longer the only characters in focus, and they’d managed to find Tyler’s sister Haley at the end of the second book - but their relationship continued to be a focal point in the book. 

Especially when in book three, when Dylan was attacked by a hunter, Tyler transformed into his full wolf form again and saved his life, irreparably damaging their friendship in the process, and causing Dylan to abandon the wolves he’d been traveling with. Book three ended with Dylan back with his family, stepping into the house he’d run away from almost two years ago and finding that hardly anything had changed. 

Stiles’ heart was really hurting for these characters at that point, and he’d wished more than anything that they were real so that he could fix their problems with well-aimed arrow and a gentle nudge. But they were fictional characters, and not even Cupids could affect those. 

Book four managed to make it even worse, at first. Stiles actively hated Derek while he was reading most of the book, because with book four came a normal human girlfriend for Dylan to go with his attempt at a normal human life, and a supposedly harmless witch interested in Tyler who’d turned out to be involved in a plot to take revenge against Haley and Tyler’s parents. 

It all came to a head with Tyler at Dylan’s doorstep, asking for his help. And the book ended before they got Dylan’s answer - and it was just, killing Stiles. Surely there was no way that Dylan was going to say no, because he’d missed both Tyler and Haley, and he’d long since figured out that normal life wasn’t all that it was supposed to be. His sister was still with the hunter, and Dylan had to pretend to be ignorant of the whole thing, while his parents pretended to be thrilled that their missing son had returned after all this time. Dylan wasn’t so sure that they wanted him to come back at all, so the choice to go with Tyler should have been a no-brainer. But there was the girlfriend and the possibility of getting a degree and living up to the promising young student he’d once been. There was a potential for a nice, normal life. 

If Dylan wanted it. 

Stiles was getting worried, and almost didn’t want to cash in on Boyd’s promise to let him read book five a little early. Because if Dylan said no, and that was the end of their relationship, he was going to have to commit a cardinal sin and throw an innocent book around, even though Derek was the one who’d screwed it all up. 

Not that he was ever going to tell Derek that, because he wasn’t actually here to help Derek with his books. He was supposed to be helping with the whole, love thing. 

“Do you have to end every book on a cliffhanger?” Stiles huffed at Derek the morning after he’d finished book four. “I think I might be developing an ulcer. That’d be a first.” 

Derek was at his desk, of course, hard at work on book six. His work ethic was a little ridiculous, though it probably helped that he didn’t have much of a personal life outside of his books and the related media responsibilities (even an anonymous author could do the occasional interview). Though Boyd handled most of the publicity stuff and contact with others involved - anyone outside of their little company of three. 

“You read them all?” Derek turned to Stiles, eyes wide. 

“I said I would,” Stiles replied petulantly. “I’m a fast reader. But that’s not the point here, Derek, the point is that you are killing me. As the Tumblr kids would say, I can’t even. I’m dead. You killed me. With feels.” 

He was getting better at the Tumblr lingo, and he was going to put that to use right away, creating some nice edits of the book five cover and tagging liberally. The Tumblr crowd would appreciate a countdown to the release of the book (and of course, some helpful links on how to pre-order the book, perhaps even some signed copies). 

“Oh,” Derek seemed pleased to hear that. 

Which was good, because it was supposed to be a compliment - Derek’s writing was incredibly compelling, and he’d made it easy to relate to his characters. The reader was supposed to relate to Tyler (and to Haley, once she’d been introduced), but it was the way Dylan was written that had gotten to Stiles. 

Because he’d been almost shy in the first book, only ever talking to his dog, because he felt like no one else was willing to listen. And then he’d come out of his shell in his travels with Tyler (and with Haley and the other friends they’d made along the way). He’d started talking, almost overcorrecting because he suddenly had people who were listening. Dylan started sharing every thought that popped into his head, started talking about random things that were not related to their mission. As if he was testing how much longer Tyler was willing to stick around and listen. 

And when Tyler didn’t leave, well… He started to settle down a bit more - until secrets were revealed and Dylan left to lick his wounds in private. And to revert back to his quiet self, to the guy who hardly ever talked. 

Stiles wondered if Dylan would let himself talk to Tyler again. 

“He says yes,” Derek said. “Dylan. He says yes.” 

Praise be. The book jacket had revealed nothing, and the summary had been annoyingly cryptic - the fans agreed with him on that. Which was part of the hype, of them not being able to wait months to read the next book. They were going to buy it right away and put the book on the bestsellers list, where it belonged. 

“Good,” Stiles nodded. “That was the only right answer.” 

Derek huffed out what almost sounded like a laugh in response. He was dividing his attention between Stiles and book six, writing a few words before looking back at Stiles to see what he was going to say next. So Derek hadn’t dismissed him completely. 

“I hadn’t seen it before,” Derek looked at his laptop screen while he spoke. 

Very mysterious, the way he suddenly changed the topic. Especially because he wasn’t looking at Stiles anymore - a shame, because that almost laugh had been quite something. Stiles needed to encourage him to do that more, and encouragement was a lot harder when his target was too busy working to look him in the eye. 

“Seen what?” Stiles leaned in a bit closer to ask that question. 

“The romance angle,” Derek got a bit flustered at Stiles’ approach. “It wasn’t in my plan for the story. I thought maybe Dylan and Haley, if I ever wanted to write some romance into it. Which is… stupidly traditional. And… I would have loved to see a story like that when I was a kid, having a crush on a boy for the very first time. The first time I realized I wasn’t the only one who liked… both? Either? That I wasn’t the only kid who didn’t care about gender… It meant the world to me to find a protagonist who shared that with me.” 

Oh, that was… Stiles knew that much, because it had been in the file - the interest in both or either or just people, regardless of gender. That had been in there. But having Derek open up to him like this, talking about how Stiles had shown him a point of view that he hadn’t considered before, and had helped him connect with his younger self… That was a lot. It was Derek opening up to him, a step in the right direction. 

Maybe Derek was going to be ready soon. 

The idea sent a shiver down his spine, and he wasn’t sure if it was good or bad. 

“I like both,” Stiles wanted to contribute to this little sharing circle. 

Wasn’t that what humans did? They  _ shared _ secrets, instead of letting the balance be all out of whack like this. Sometimes they called it mutually assured destruction, and sometimes it was just like moving up a level in friendship. 

Stiles liked the second option better. 

But Derek had grown silent, and that was not what Stiles needed to achieve here - the very opposite, in fact. He needed to encourage Derek to let it all out, to let himself be vulnerable in front of a friend like this - oh, Stiles maybe qualified as someone’s friend now. 

He’d never had a human friend before. At least there were still new experiences to be had. 

“It won’t be in book five,” Derek picked up on a previous thread of their conversation. “That’s done, that’s been edited, and it’s being printed as we speak. But maybe… Maybe in book six I could start making the subtext a bit more… like text. I’m not sure all the higher-ups will go for it, but I think it might be a good thing. To go there. To explore that.” 

Sure, it would have been awesome if somehow Derek had managed to write it into the next book without realizing it, because Stiles was surprisingly impatient about this whole Tyler and Dylan thing. But he knew, realistically, that it wasn’t going to happen right away, that they had to grow and evolve so that they’d get to a place where it all made sense. The seeds of a great love had been planted - now Derek just had to continue to water them. 

“And there’s nothing in book five that would contradict it?” Stiles had to ask, because he was supposed to be marketing that book after all. 

Derek shook his head. “No. Romance has never been too big of a deal, and while I was not going to kill off Dylan’s girlfriend or just have him leave her behind because Tyler showed up, she was never meant to be an endgame love interest for him. I wasn’t thinking about anyone’s romantic endgame, not until now. But Shelley was supposed to be a way to explore a side of Dylan we hadn’t seen before - and these two sides of him meeting in book five made for a really interesting conflict. I don’t want to spoil everything for you yet.” 

Tyler and Shelley in the same room - Stiles had not had the time to imagine the possibility of that. He’d assumed that Shelley was a throwaway love interest, for one book only. He’d assumed that she’d die or somehow end up disappearing and renewing Dylan’s interest in the mystery. He’d never even considered that she might stick around, but he was happy that she was. Because if Derek developed her character even half as much as he’d done Haley, or Crystal the hunter’s daughter, or Arden the trickster… Well, Shelley was certainly going to find her way into the rest of the narrative. As more than just the stock girlfriend character. 

“Spoil me,” Stiles practically begged. 

“No,” Derek just smirked at his pouting face. “I want you to read it for yourself. I know Boyd promised you an advance copy. And you’ll get it. At the end of the week, once you’ve done a bit more work for us. I have to know that I can trust you.” 

It was fair, but also it was extremely unfair. And Stiles was unable to stop pouting, which left Derek unable to stop smirking. Okay, Stiles probably exaggerated the pout a little to amuse Derek, because everything was better when Derek was enjoying himself. The office seemed lighter, the sun was brighter, and Stiles felt a bit more human. 

“I’m very trustworthy,” Stiles pretended to be offended. 

“I’m sure,” Derek actually smiled, just a little. “I just need some time.” 

And he was still smiling when he said it, but it was more apologetic. Stiles felt a tingle in his fingers, a twist in his gut, an urge to reach out and comfort Derek. But he was unsure if that would make it better or worse - they hadn’t exactly known each other for very long, and Derek had just said that he needed time. So it would be just like Stiles to push a little - it was basically his job - but Derek probably didn’t want to be pushed. 

Boundaries were important in human friendships. 

“I’m going to hype the shit out of your books,” Stiles promised. “I mean, the cliffhanger alone is going to be a good hook, but also a lot of blogs online are doing rereads in the next few weeks, or doing Tylan week. That’s the Tyler and Dylan ship name - a portmanteau, as it were. Overall, the fans are definitely excited, but if we can drum up some extra interest online, that would not hurt. Are you doing any kind of teaser of the new book? Or an interview of some kind? I could interview you a little. How do you feel about me using your voice? You have a great voice, and it would help the fans feel closer to you. They want to get to know the creator of their favorite characters, and I know you don’t want to have your face on the book jacket, but snippets of your voice in a couple of tweets maybe? Or some other way, I’m flexible. Very flexible.” 

He was… flexible, that was. It was kind of a requirement in a line of work that required shooting romantic arrows at people from the weirdest places and positions. 

“I’m glad you’re excited,” Derek was once again writing while talking. 

He was quite something to look at like this, bent over his laptop with a smug grin on that ridiculously attractive face of his. He was enjoying himself talking to Stiles about his books, and enjoying himself even more when teasing Stiles about anything at all. Stiles liked it so much, the way his eyes lit up and the bunny teeth were showing and the way he only talked like this to Stiles. It was a connection that was just theirs. 

It made Stiles jealous of the humans, of how they got to have connections like this. Things weren’t quite like that for Cupids like him. It wasn’t bad, but he didn’t exactly have friends he kept in touch with all the time, people he had inside jokes with. Most of his relationships were very professional, distant even - and always temporary. Because he was just supposed to be the guy up in the metaphorical rafters, working the job and moving on. 

They didn’t exactly have partners. 

But that wasn’t a nice thing to think about. He didn’t want to think about sad things - he’d rather think some more about Derek and his wonderful characters. 

“How do you feel about letting me read book six?” Stiles had to give it a shot. 

“Like you’re an impatient little shit,” Derek responded, grinning smugly. 

Damn it. 

Of course that didn’t work. 

* * *

Stiles had devoured book five over the weekend, and he’d had a lot of thoughts about it, not all of which were appropriate to post on social media. But some of them were, some things were exactly the right thing to say to make the fans sit up and pay attention. 

And the number of fans was growing. The official Twitter account he’d quickly taken from a rehash of Facebook to a selection of memes and jokes had gone from maybe a thousand followers to at least ten times that within a week (after a joke he’d made about Tyler being just like that guy from the Witcher had started a trending topic). The official Tumblr account for the Triskelion series had seen a lot of messages and asks - very little anon hate, and a lot of questions about who was behind the account and if there was anything that he could reveal about the fifth book in the series. 

He went by SS online, because well… His fake human last name was based off his real nickname, and it made sense. But people seemed to actually want to get to know him, mostly because of his connection to the books and their elusive author, but they asked regardless. 

“Why are you laughing now?” Derek called out. “It better not be porn again.” 

Yeah, that had happened. Because Derek was so interested in what Stiles was looking at online, so Stiles had started telling him. Most of the time it wasn’t really an issue, not when looking at fanart or meta or a funny meme, but this one time… The porn ban on Tumblr just made people get really creative - Stiles had to applaud the effort. 

And the artistic skill, because damn. 

He pointedly did not consider that the artist’s rendition of Tyler and Dylan looked a whole lot like Derek and Stiles. Like, it was kind of impressive how close it was. Their old art still had the Derek lookalike as Tyler, but the Stiles copy for Dylan was a first. 

Still, he’d shown it to Derek when he asked. Because damn. 

“I wouldn’t do that to you twice,” Stiles played offended. 

“Thrice,” Derek corrected. “You’ve already done it twice. And I get that you were impressed with the quality of the art that first time, and you wanted to know if I thought the actors looked like the characters the second time… But I’m not doing that again.” 

Oh right, the actual porn gifs thing. That was born partly of curiosity of what the characters looked like for Derek, and partly to make Derek remember that sex was supposedly kind of awesome. For humans. Cupids didn’t do that. Stiles wasn’t even sure if they could - not that it mattered, really. Because that wasn’t what they did. 

“The internet is for porn, Der-Bear,” Stiles practically giggled. 

That was not a song that he was ever going to forget about, thanks. 

“I just got that song out of my head,” Derek complained. “And don’t you dare turn on the Witcher song instead, because just remembering existence is putting that earworm back in my head.” 

Stiles apparently hummed while he worked. He’d never really done that before, and it drove Derek crazy sometimes. At one point, Derek had thrown balled up pieces of paper at him to make him stop. It hadn’t worked, but at least he’d tried. 

“Poor baby,” Stiles mocked none too gently. “I was laughing because of this post matching iconic tweets to the characters. These fans go hard, and I love all of them. Oh, hey, another ask wanting to know what you’re like. Hmm, what should I say this time?” 

By now, Stiles had made it into a bit of a tradition to come up with a ridiculous story every single time someone asked him about Derek - or about Lee Samuels (the pseudonym Derek used). It had started as a random thought, because he didn’t just want to shoot people down when they were just trying to get to know their favorite author a little better. 

So he’d started asking Derek stupid questions, and using Derek’s answers to provide endless entertainment to the fans online. The questions were never about anything that could be used to ID Derek - nothing as recognizable as birth places or age or even things like favorite books or favorite movies. They were about stupid Buzzfeed quizzes, like what animal Derek’s daemon would be, or which song he’d use to describe Stiles at that very moment.

(Derek had chosen You’re So Vain and Stiles had thrown a water bottle at him. It was empty, and it missed Derek by several inches. Because Stiles was better with a bow. Sort of.)

“No more Buzzfeed quizzes,” Derek pleaded. “I’ve learned things about myself that I can never unknow. The internet is forever, Stiles. Erica is already texting me based off the latest posts you’ve written on Tumblr. She really enjoys you making fun of me.” 

Of course Erica was reading all of this - Boyd probably was too, even though he commented about it much less than his wife did. Boyd didn’t talk much, but when he did comment on something, it was about the way Derek had answered a stupid question Stiles just had to ask him, or about the latest number in pre-sales. 

The numbers were good. Stiles’ hard work was paying off. And he was having fun. 

“The fans love me,” Stiles stuck out his tongue at Derek. “Not as much as they love you, but we can’t all be built like Greek Gods and have the intellect to match. Seriously, how is that even fair to the rest of the human race? You have to leave some for the rest of them - us.” 

Those slips were… getting more and more frequent the more Stiles talked to Derek. He wondered why Derek had never called him out on any of it, but he also didn’t want to give any more attention to it. That was just going to make it more obvious that he was a phony of a human who was going to have to leave them all behind once Derek found his match. 

Which, wasn’t he supposed to be finding the perfect person for Derek? 

Sure, making sure that Derek was open for love when he found it was the biggest part of his mission at the moment - but at some point he had to have a target in mind. At some point his great Cupid mind had to come up with someone who’d work with Derek, or at least have a bit of a Spark with him. A lot could happen with a mere Spark as a starting point. 

“You made him blush again,” Boyd interjected, without even looking up. 

“How can you tell?” Stiles had to know. 

Boyd just kept doing that, knowing exactly when Derek was blushing or smiling or whatever it was at that point in time. He knew Derek well, sure, but was that all of it? 

Was it a special power? Humans did have those sometimes, when one of their ancestors had Fae blood, or any kind of other supernatural creature. There were a lot of supernatural creatures, supposedly. Stiles had only ever met a Fae - a redheaded woman named Lydia he’d fallen in love with as a young Cupid. 

That certainly made him realize why Cupids never had a lasting love of their own. It was their mission to spread love, and there was always going to be a perfect match for someone that he just had to find. Lydia’s perfect match was a Hellhound named Jordan. 

“I have skills,” Boyd deflected, as usual. 

“You have work to do,” Derek interjected. “Both of you.” 

Stiles looked at him, just to check that Boyd had not been wrong about the blushing. And he wasn’t, because Derek’s cheeks were a bit red underneath his scruffy jaw, and the back of his neck looked a little flushed as well. Stiles couldn’t look into his eyes from this angle (because Derek liked to hide from him when he got embarrassed), but he was so very sure that they were closed. Derek did that, a weird throwback to the “if I can’t see you, you can’t see me” thing that kids usually had going on. It was too adorable coming from Derek. 

“It’s my job to show Derek how awesome he is,” Stiles just had to argue. “I’m pretty sure that’s in my job description, just like embarrassing him with his Buzzfeed quiz results.”

Yeah, that wasn’t actually in his job description, but it might as well have been. It was part of the unofficial job description - because in his first meeting with Boyd, he’d mentioned that anything that could be done to draw Derek out of his shell were more than welcome. Boyd didn’t have to say that he was worried about Derek for Stiles to figure that out - he just asked Stiles to get Derek a bit more involved with the social media stuff, and to try to get him to interact with fans a little bit. Maybe that way he’d see that he’d made a difference in people’s lives. 

“I’m pretty sure I didn’t put that in the vacancy text,” Derek rolled his eyes. 

“Not in your version, maybe,” Stiles interjected, because he had to have the last word. “Because the one I got was way more elaborate. I haven’t even started on some of my duties yet.” 

Of course he was full of shit, but it was so damn fun to tease Derek like this, to watch him flush and maybe even tease Stiles in return. The Derek that appeared when there was no one else there to interrupt them was rapidly becoming Stiles’ favorite person in the world. The wit he’d been hoping for was prevalent, and it was so easy to see how Derek’s true match would fall in love with him. Derek deserved only the best. 

“Alright, that’s enough flirting,” Boyd cut them off. “Derek has a chapter to finish and Stiles has those interview questions to work on. If you don’t write anything too outlandish, I think it’s about time for Derek to tell the fans a bit more about himself.” 

Derek had sat up straight and turned to Boyd - he’d probably wanted to continue joking around with Stiles - but Boyd had plowed right through and kept him from talking. But he was not going to keep Stiles from talking. No one could, really. 

“I still vote for soundbites,” Stiles had to argue. “Derek has a great voice. The fans would fall even more in love with him if they heard it.” 

Sure, Derek’s voice wasn’t the traditional low, sexy, bass voice that people expected of a guy like him, but it still totally worked for him. Sure, the incredible smile that came with a happy, teasing Derek was even better - but if the public was only going to get his voice, they were still going to come out of this happy. And very lucky, if Derek had some things to share with them - he was extremely insightful and funny and...

“And they’re not the only ones,” Boyd muttered under his breath. 

Oh.  _ Oh. _

Oh no. 

* * *

So Stiles had committed one of the worst sins a Cupid could ever commit: he’d fallen for his own damn target. 

It wasn’t just that it was not allowed, it was that Cupids weren’t meant for love and Derek deserved so much love, because he had so much love to give. No matter how much he might have denied it when Erica tried to push him into going on another blind date. Derek would be a wonderful partner to a very deserving person. 

Which was not going to be Stiles. Because Stiles had been compromised. He’d have to sign the job over to someone else, who was undoubtedly going to set Derek up with exactly the wrong person. If they managed to get him to connect with someone at all. 

Still, those were the rules. And so he turned himself in, and he asked Allison for the favor she’d owed him practically for ages. He asked her to take over - because Derek deserved the best, and Allison was the best shot. She was kind and vicious (if need be), had adorable dimples and could charm anyone into happiness. 

She was also the closest thing Stiles had to a friend. 

Which was why he wasn’t surprised that she came back to see him after two days of being on the job. Allison just did that sometimes, after she’d completed a job that she was less than completely happy with. Because no one else would let her complain. 

“He asked about you,” Allison told him the second she put her bow aside. 

“Don’t,” Stiles couldn’t stand to hear it. “Please. Ally.” 

That was a nickname he hadn’t used in ages, not since he’d earned himself a favor from the great and almost infallible Allison in the first place. She’d been green back then, and had almost committed the same sin Stiles was now guilty of: she’d fallen for a target, just not her own. No, Scott McCall had been one of Stiles’ targets, and they just happened to come across Allison on her own mission. 

What had happened had been the most genuine case of love at first sight that Stiles had ever been a witness to (and he’d seen some things over the years). Scott had looked at Allison, and Allison had looked at Scott, - and a bomb could have gone off and they never would have noticed. It was only when one of the animals tried to claw at Allison that the spell was broken and both Cupids realized what was happening here. 

With just one panicked look from Allison, Stiles knew that his colleague was lost. She knew the rules as well as anyone, but she still hadn’t moved away from Scott McCall. Because she didn’t want to. Because… Cupids could fall in love, even though they weren’t supposed to. 

“Stiles?” Allison was trying to get his attention. “I told him I was your cousin, and you had a family emergency. Just like I was supposed to. But he kept asking about you, about how you were doing. If your dad was okay. He’s texted you a bunch too. Good thing you didn’t keep the phone. That would have been a close call.” 

Stiles wished he’d kept the phone, so he at least could have stayed in touch with Derek. The excuse of a sick father was a convincing one, even though Stiles didn’t remember ever having a parent - not like the humans did. Derek believed it though, and while Stiles kind of felt shitty about lying to Derek, it was good to see that it was at least believable. For a while, until Stiles had to leave for good - because his fake dad was not going to get better. 

And Derek was going to realize that Stiles wasn’t coming back. 

“I just made it worse,” Stiles stared at his hands. 

“He’ll be okay,” Allison patted him on the shoulder, and tried to lie to him. “He’s strong.” 

Okay, that last bit definitely was not a lie, but… Stiles didn’t want more of Derek trying to be strong and power through. He wanted Derek’s happiness, and for some stupid reason Stiles had managed to tie himself to that happiness. For some reason, Stiles was required for Derek to be happy. It had only been a few weeks - January had moved into February and The Holiday was quickly approaching. 

How come the feelings were so strong after such a short amount of time? How was that even possible? Especially with a Cupid like Stiles. 

Shit, he didn’t even know what the hell he was thinking. Not about Derek, because there were just too many reasons to feel a whole bunch of things for Derek, but the fact that it was Stiles feeling them… That was not supposed to happen, and that was not on Derek at all. That was all on Stiles - everything about that was on Stiles. 

It was a good thing that Derek never found out about this. 

“Did you ever…,” Stiles trailed off, unsure about asking that question. 

“Go back to see Scott?” Allison finished the question, as if mind reading was a Cupid power as well. “I did. I have. He’s happy. He’s found a lovely girl. She’s Japanese and collects antique swords and likes to play pranks on him. They’re getting married.” 

Well, that was…. That was probably the last thing he wanted to hear at that point. Well, of course he wanted to hear that Scott was happy - he’d really liked that guy. Scott had been his favorite assignment until he got to know Derek. But Allison still seeing him and it just… not mattering anymore? That gave him chills - because soon, too soon, that was going to be him and Derek. Soon Derek was going to forget that Stiles had ever existed, would hire another assistant who’d tease him and make him blush and smile. Someone who’d make him happy. 

They weren’t going to be as good at it as Stiles was. He had never been the best at his job, but he’d been the best at this. He’d felt accomplished, not just because of Derek, but also because he was good at that job. Not at pretending to be human (he was awful at that), but at getting people interested in the Triskelion series and in Lee Samuels (or just Derek Hale). He wished the assignment had been longer, so that he could have continued doing it, getting better at it and pushing Derek into the limelight, where he belonged. 

“I’m sorry,” Stiles told Allison. 

Because he was. For the both of them. For all of them. 

“I know,” Allison smiled at him, softly. “It’s not your fault. It’s mine. I made my choice. I could have chosen Scott. But I didn’t. I chose this.” 

He wanted to protest, wanted to tell Allison that it wasn’t her fault, because this was just an unfair existence they led. Sure, it was fine for a while, but after ages upon ages, it got more and more difficult to watch others be happy. It was so incredibly worthwhile a job, so humbling, so beautiful to be the one to make these humans happy. It was gratifying and an honor, until it just… wasn’t anymore. Until it started to hurt, and…

Chosen? Allison could have chosen differently? 

“There’s a choice?” Stiles was left gaping like a fish. 

“Stiles,” Allison’s eyes widened. “Did no one ever tell you about what happened to Noah?” 

Noah had been somewhat of a mentor to him, a guardian to the younger Cupids, someone who showed them the ropes and made sure they were ready before they were sent on their first assignment. While Allison had been assigned Chris as her guardian, Stiles had been assigned to Noah. They were a lot alike, and if Stiles had ever had someone who counted as a father figure, well… That was Noah, to him. Even though Noah didn’t look older. 

Looks didn’t mean anything when it came to Cupids. 

“He met someone,” Allison assumed from his gaping that Stiles had not been informed. “Around thirty human years ago, or maybe more like thirty-five, he was sent on an assignment. I don’t know who the assignment was, but you know Noah. He was ready. Prepared for anything. He had contingency plans for everything - except for Claudia.” 

Yes, Stiles did remember that about Noah. How he was good at putting things together, at solving puzzles and other problems. He was always at the head of the pack when it came to helping people, and there was no person he couldn’t give the Spark to. 

“Who’s Claudia?” Stiles asked, voice soft. 

“Claudia Gajos,” Allison struggled to pronounce the name correctly (she’d always been better with French names). “She was a student, maybe a friend of the person Noah was supposed to help, or maybe a complete stranger. But she was beautiful, and smart, and she noticed Noah right away. Or so the story goes. And he just… His heart pounded for her, just for her. And when they tried to take him away, he refused. He wasn’t going to be without her.” 

Oh. Oh. Noah fell in love. Like the humans did. 

“But that’s not allowed,” Stiles needed to hear this. 

“It’s not,” Allison agreed with a quick nod of her head. “Cupids aren’t allowed to love any one human like this. And still Noah got his Claudia. And married her, and loved her for fifteen, maybe twenty years. Until she passed away.” 

Fifteen years? Possibly twenty? In a Cupid’s life, that was hardly anything at all. How could Noah go on after that? How did one move on? Was that even possible? 

What would it be like to have a love like that? 

Stiles was too invested in this puzzle. “But, how?” 

“ _ Cupids _ aren’t allowed a human love,” Allison put an odd emphasis on the word. “But  _ humans _ , there’s nothing keeping them from loving another human.” 

At this point, Allison was just reciting the laws, basically. But there had to have been a reason for her to emphasize… Choice. There was a choice that people could make once they’d seen a human that they’d fallen… A human. A choice. Oh hell. 

“Cupids can become humans?” Stiles knew his eyes were wide. 

“In extraordinary cases, yes,” Allison seemed pleased that he’d figured it out. “For an extraordinary love. Some of us choose love over the Spark. Noah chose his love for Claudia, or the potential for their love, at that time. I chose the Spark. I chose the job. I think I made the right choice. See Noah, ask him if he made the right one. And then make yours.” 

_ Derek. _

* * *

Noah Stilinski lived in a small town in California called Beacon Hills. The town where Derek grew up, where he lived until most of his family was killed in a terrible fire. Noah Stilinski had been the deputy on scene. 

But that had been fifteen years ago. 

“Stiles,” Noah embraced him. “Boy, what are you doing at an old man’s house?” 

He was right about that. Noah Stilinski was an old man. Not what the humans would call old - just somewhere around fifty-five or sixty. But he looked older than Cupids did, with wrinkles on his forehead and laugh lines around his eyes. His skin was a bit rough, like he’d been in the sun too much, and his eyes looked more serious than Stiles remembered. 

But his embrace, this hug, it was just the same. 

“Hi,” he almost stammered. “I’m sorry.” 

How had he ever managed without him? How had he managed to forget about the only person he’d ever wanted to call his, call family? Stiles had never had friends, but he’d had a family once, and he’d just… abandoned him. Left him behind? Forgotten about him? 

How could he have done that? 

“What are you sorry for?” Noah’s gaze was focused on him. 

“I didn’t know where you were,” Stiles had to make sure that Noah knew that much. “I didn’t know there was a choice. And you made yours. You probably don’t even want to see me. I’m sorry. I can go if you want. I just… You made a choice.” 

There was no way he’d leave if Noah didn’t want him to, but he had to give his old friend at least a semblance of a choice. It was going to hurt a lot if Noah told him to get out, but he’d do it - even though he didn’t think that it would turn out that way. Not after that hug, and the way Noah called him son and… Was he the prodigal son, returned home after years apart?

He’d never even been to Beacon Hills before! This wasn’t home. Only it was. 

“Sit down, Stiles,” Noah’s paternal energy was even stronger this way. “Tell this old man what you’ve been up to. And then when you’re ready, you can tell me why you’re here.” 

The house was a bit of a mess, with mismatched furniture that had seen a lot of use. It wasn’t the house of someone who had a lot of money to spare. It was the house of a bachelor, someone who worked a lot and preferred a place that felt like home over a place that had all of the latest amenities. It was Noah’s house, a place that felt like Noah, with underlying hints of what had been Claudia. There was a picture on the wall (and several more spread around the room) of a beautiful woman with long brown hair wearing a simple white wedding dress. Noah was smiling at her in every single one of the pictures. 

Stiles knew what love looked like when he saw it. 

“Why is your name Stilinski?” Stiles had to ask. 

“You know why,” Noah rolled his eyes at him, a familiar motion on an unfamiliar face. “Come on kid, I thought you were smarter than this. Did the last thirty-five years rot your brain completely?” 

Noah hadn’t forgotten about him, not at all. He’d kept Stiles with him, and even shared him with his wife. Claudia Gajos had been Claudia Stilinski for fifteen years. Stiles had never met her, and he never would, but they’d been family regardless. 

It was a lot to come to terms with. 

“But…” Stiles started to stammer. 

“No, kiddo,” Noah interrupted. “We were family. Still are, if you want it.” 

This acceptance, this unconditional familial love? He’d seen it before, with Scott and his hardworking mother, and with Danny’s close knit Hawaiian family. And now Noah was offering it to him as well. He’d be a fool not to accept, and while Stiles was many things, a fool usually wasn’t one of them. Maybe around Derek, though. 

Oh. Allison’s excuse. That was… perfect. 

“Allison told Derek I was taking care of my sick Dad,” Stiles laughed. 

Of course Noah didn’t understand what he was talking about, but when Stiles said Dad, he still gave him that look. That same look he’d had when they’d both been Cupids, when they’d been trying to help people and Stiles had done well at something. That pride - it wasn’t new. 

“Tell me more about this Derek,” Noah crossed his arms. 

“Are you parenting me right now?” Stiles rolled his eyes at the cliche movie dad conversation that they were participating in. “Really, Noah? Are you going to bring out a shotgun next and wait on the porch for him? Because you’d be waiting a long time. I don’t think he’d ever come back home - here. Come back here. It hasn’t been his home in ages.” 

Well, now he’d just revealed way too much because the rambling thing that had started around Derek hadn’t gone away. It was probably only going to get worse from here - especially around Derek. If he ever got to be around Derek again - because that was all dependent upon the choice that he still had to make. That was all up to him - and maybe it was foolish to even consider giving up his life when he hadn’t even considered Derek’s feelings in all of this. 

Maybe Derek didn’t love him that way, and never would. 

“Really?” Noah had clearly already put the pieces together. “Of all the people in all the world, you end up with Derek Hale? At least he’s a good Beacon Hills boy underneath all that big city writer allure. He’d be good for you. If you let him.” 

Noah had always been so very good at that, and it was impressive to see him do it as a human as well. Stiles had thought he was so smart, until he met Noah, who showed him how naive he’d been about that. Who’d taught him how to truly be smart, how to keep people safe and happy and feeling loved. Who’d taught him how to be a man and a Cupid both. 

“You are such a Dad,” Stiles complained, sounding every bit like a petulant child. 

“I can be,” Noah didn’t look at him, and Stiles worried he’d gone too far. “Claudia and I, we always hoped we would… But we were never blessed like that. She would have been honored to meet you, to call you her son. She called you Mischief. She’d say: ‘Noah, tell me more about your Mischief friend. Tell me another story about Stiles.’ I could never resist her.” 

It hurt, all of a sudden. There was a sharp pain in his torso. It hurt like there was a gaping hole in his chest, right in his heart, where Claudia was supposed to be. Where his mother was supposed to be. He’d never had one of those. 

“Did you just…,” Noah turned to him, eyes wide. 

“Did I what?” Stiles grabbed at his heart, pounding in his chest. 

He felt weird again. It wasn’t just the stabbing in his chest. It was the way his eyes were leaking all too human tears, and the way he was starting to sweat, and the way his head felt soft and cottony and woozy. He didn’t know how to explain it. He’d never felt it before. 

“Stiles,” Noah caught him in strong arms. “Did you just… choose?” 

Everything was blurry, the world out of whack and wobbling around him. He didn’t know what was up and what was down, couldn’t tell if he was sitting down or standing up. All he knew was that Noah was keeping him from falling to the floor, and that he was possibly dying. Which was not something that Cupids could do, not really. 

Stiles tried to cling to that thought, tried to gather the puzzle pieces when everything went black. 

* * *

When he woke up, he was in a strange bedroom. It was dark outside, and he couldn’t see much of anything. That was new - he had to have supernatural eyesight to make sure the arrows hit even when there was no light. He’d been able to see everything before. 

Now, there was nothing but darkness. 

“Stiles,” a somewhat familiar voice from next to him. “Keep your eyes closed for a bit, I’m going to turn on the light. You’ll need to adjust. This next bit is not going to be fun.” 

Was that… Noah? It sounded like him, only it didn’t. 

“Noah?” Stiles had to be sure. “What happened? Did I get sick? I’m not supposed to get sick. Is this what they do to punish people who fall for the person they’re assigned to? Because I think that’s kind of a weird punishment to be honest, and wow I’m still all ramble-y.” 

That was… not new. He’d thought it was just a Derek thing, but it appeared to be getting worse and worse. Now it was even happening when it was just Noah, someone who knew everything about him and didn’t fault him for it. There was no need to be nervous about anything, it was just that his brain was lit up like crazy, trying to process everything that had happened and everything that was currently happening. And all of the things that had not yet come to pass. 

Hah, that was a Lord of the Rings joke, Derek was going to be so proud when he… Oh. 

“Alright, the light is on,” Noah sounded like he was smiling a little. “Keep your eyes closed and stay where you are. If you’re a good kid I’ll explain what’s going on.” 

He doubted that Noah wouldn’t tell him anything if he acted like an idiot, but he was still feeling really unsettled and a little woozy and kind of… scared. Maybe it was better to keep his eyes closed for a little while, so that he could just focus on Noah’s voice. It was a familiar voice and could therefore easily be an anchor. Cupids didn’t usually need anchors, not like that. So, was that a human thing? Did humans need anchors or was that another species? 

Still, it was best to act a bit cavalier, like nothing was wrong. At least until he’d figured it out. 

“Patronizing much?” Stiles huffed. 

“I’m allowed to be,” Noah still sounded pleased. “Since I’m now the proud owner of a birth certificate that says Mieczyslaw Stilinski, born April 8 1994, is the son of Claudia Gajos and Noah Janusz Stilinski. So,  _ son _ , I’m going to milk this for all I can for a little while.” 

Who was Mieczy- oh. That was him. That was Stiles. He was Mieczyslaw, and Mieczyslaw was him. And Noah was - his  _ Dad _ ?

“What the  _ fuck _ ?” Stiles’ voice actually cracked. 

“There he is,” Noah was grinning when Stiles opened his eyes. “Like father, like son, I guess. I reacted much the same when I found my own birth certificate. And I’d chosen it on purpose, instead of almost accidentally. Honestly, Stiles. I’m not surprised, and I’m… No, I’m not disappointed. You’re a good kid. I could have a son. A grown-ass son.” 

The light was too bright for his suddenly so sensitive eyes. Cupids adapted to changes in light so easily that this was kind of jarring. But looking at himself, the sensitivity to light suddenly became the least of his worries. He was trembling, parts of his body were shaking, and he was sweating pretty much all over. There was a weird feeling in his stomach that was either butterflies or an imminent need to puke. He was completely and disgustingly  _ human _ . 

“I chose?” Stiles wanted to sit up. 

But the second he tried to shoot up into a sitting position, the feeling in his stomach started to lean towards imminent need to puke. He frantically tried to find some kind of container before it was too late, only to find Noah holding a bucket for him. He had no time to be grateful. 

“Let it out, son,” Noah put a hand to his sweaty forehead. “I told you this was not going to be fun. Choosing is like kickstarting your human body, like telling it all systems go. And half of those systems didn’t exist or didn’t work until last night. It takes some getting used to. You’ll feel better in a couple of hours. Dear old Dad will help you.” 

Stiles would have punched him in the shoulder for that if he hadn’t been so busy puking his guts out. Wait, was that an expression or an actual thing? He really should have spent more time looking up human illnesses before he chose, because this was awful. 

“Gross,” he whined, trying to catch his breath. 

“Don’t I know it,” Noah was still gloating. “I was alone for this bit. At least, for the worst of it. I was supposed to go on a date with your moth- with Claudia. She found me on the couch, wrapped in piles and piles of blankets and coughing pathetically. Amazingly enough, she still wanted to date me after that. Quite a woman, that one.” 

Oh, that was…. Grief. That was what grief felt like. It was awful and beautiful all at once, how memories Stiles didn’t actually have started to push to the forefront and how they stung so beautifully. It was going to take some time to get used to dealing with both sets of memories - at least, if he got to keep both. Noah remembered him, remembered their old life, so… Maybe?

“She was wonderful,” Stiles found himself crying. 

“She was,” Noah agreed right away. “The memories will continue to come in for a bit. You’re not losing much of them. Just details on the people you’ve matched up - because that doesn’t matter anymore. Don’t worry, you’ll remember everything about your precious Derek.” 

He didn’t even know how his Da- how Noah knew that was what Stiles had been worried about, but he knew somehow. If Stiles were to ask him, there was probably going to be a joke about parental powers - so he just wasn’t going to ask. Noah was already gloating about this way too much, and Stiles was not going to give him any more ammunition. There was already more than enough of that to last a lifetime. 

Oh.  _ Oh _ . 

All he had was a lifetime. That was new too. 

“Derek,” Stiles was smiling just at the thought of him. “Gotta make sure that idiot doesn’t accidentally tweet a private DM again. He’d be lost without me.” 

Of course, seconds after this he got caught in a violent coughing spell as his lungs and throat simply had to announce their newly human status. Ugh, this was not going to be fun - he was especially un-excited about bowel movements. 

“I assume that means you want your phone back,” Noah was moving the bucket with the disgusting smell out of sight. “It’s been going off quite a bit. Seems he’s worried about you. And your dear old Dad.” 

Stiles tried to hide his goofy smile in one of the pillows. It probably didn’t work, judging by the way Noah was openly laughing at him now. 

“How do I get back to him?” Stiles asked, panicked. 

“We’ll book you a plane ticket,” Noah reassured him. “I can’t leave Beacon Hills like that, but maybe, in a while, I’ll follow you out there. Can’t let my son wreak havoc alone, after all.” 

Oh, so that was family. That was what that feeling meant - it was family and love and connection, in a completely different way than with Derek. It was Noah supporting him unconditionally, instantly, even when they hadn’t actually seen each other for… many, many years. Longer than Mieczyslaw had supposedly been alive. 

That was certainly going to take some time to get used to. 

“You’re a good Dad,” Stiles told him, a bit choked up with all these stupid emotions. 

“You’re a pain in the ass,” Noah responded, even though Stiles could clearly see that his eyes were a bit watery too. “Can’t wait to get you out of the house so I can live my life in peace.” 

Right, that was exactly why he was already talking about leaving Beacon Hills in the dust and following Stiles to the East Coast. Because he wanted to be by himself again, all alone in a house that was filled with memories of Claudia, and… Oh, Noah really was leaving a lot behind to follow his not-son around the country. 

He really was a good Dad. 

Stiles rolled his eyes at him regardless. “You’re a terrible liar.”

“You didn’t get that from your mother,” Noah always sounded so fond when he talked about Claudia. “She was the criminal mastermind in this family. She talked her way out of every ticket even before I was in law enforcement. I don’t think anyone could say no to her.” 

It was weird having all these feelings all balled up in his chest, wanting to cry and laugh and scream and yell and dance and… mostly just to love. 

_ Oh _ . He got that now. Got the reason for Cupids, more so than ever before. 

* * *

Boyd and Erica had picked him up at the airport, because Stiles had not been able to tell Derek that he was coming back. He’d explained that he’d caught a bug when looking after his Dad, but that he’d be back as soon as possible - and that he’d try to do some work from home (or his Dad’s home) in the meantime. Instead, he found himself on a ridiculously early flight on February 14th. Valentine’s Day. 

Erica had made fun of his dazed look, of how he couldn’t seem to keep all of his travel documents straight. Because he was exhausted, and he was probably less than perfect-looking because of that weird travel smell and the dozing he’d done on the plane. Boyd had seemed to understand, because he’d just herded Stiles into a car with them and told him they were heading straight to the office, just like Stiles had requested. 

Why would he go to an apartment he’d never been to before (fuck, the people in the Transformations department really covered their asses well, huh)? Why would he do that when he could go to Derek instead? He wanted to go back to work, and tease Derek and make him blush and answer silly questions on Tumblr and retweet memes on Twitter and feel happy and useful and appreciated and dare he say it - loved. 

“We’re almost there,” Boyd announced. 

“It’s really romantic, what you’re doing,” Erica interjected before Boyd had the chance to say anything else. “Derek’s been moping for at least a week now. And now you’re coming back and surprising him on Valentine’s Day. If Boyd had done that for me, I wouldn’t have let him leave the bed for at least three days. Maybe a week.” 

Stiles really, really liked Erica. He wanted her to want to be his friend so badly, and so far he hadn’t done or said anything to fuck it up. Boyd had been his friend before, back when he was just Stiles who pretended to be Mieczyslaw - Stiles knew the signs of friendship now. 

“Did you mean: our honeymoon?” Boyd’s deadpan voice was a delight. 

“So you haven’t forgotten,” Erica was happy to tease him in return. “It’s been a few years, Vernon. I was starting to worry.” 

Vernon? Oh, that was beautiful. Stiles found himself almost giggling when Erica turned around to wink at him. Maybe Erica had already decided for him - they were friends now. 

“Look, Stiles,” Boyd suddenly turned to look at him through the rearview mirror. “I don’t have to tell you to be careful with Derek. Because he’d rip my throat out with his teeth if he found out I said that. He’s in a good place, partly because of you. He really likes you.” 

That made Stiles look away from the rearview mirror, at least briefly, because he really did not want to see the embarrassing thing that his face was doing at that point. He turned away and tried to compose himself at least a little before responding. Because he had to respond, because he had to make sure that Boyd had said what Stiles had thought he’d said. Because he had to make sure that Derek really did feel that way about him. 

“He does?” Stiles had never heard his voice sound so unsure, so fragile. 

Boyd just stared at him. “Stiles, I have been a third wheel in that office ever since the first day you started working with us. I knew you’re not fluent in Derek speak yet. You will be, probably soon. But he’s done everything except talk about his feelings. He’s right there with you. All you have to do is let it happen.” 

And with those words, they pulled up in front of the building where their office was housed, and Stiles was pretty sure his heart was pounding in his damn throat. He’d done some frantic research at Noah’s place, and he knew that was not actually physically possible, but it damn well felt that way. It felt weird and kind of gross and kind of wonderful at the same time, and he was absolutely going to ramble at Derek forever and ever and ever before maybe eventually settling down a little bit. If that was at all possible. 

“Let it happen,” Stiles had found a mantra. 

“But not too much,” Erica had to interrupt. “Don’t have sex in the office. Please. I beg of you. If I can’t do it, you can’t either. Derek has forbidden it, you see, after he found Boyd and I - and that’s a story for another time. Go get him.” 

Yeah, those were some details that he probably did not need to have, and well, Derek was waiting. Not that Derek actually knew that he was waiting, because he didn’t actually know that Stiles was coming at this very moment, but still. Derek was just a few floors away from him, and Stiles was so very close to getting what he wanted (maybe, hopefully). 

“You’re delightful,” he told Erica before climbing out of the car and completely abandoning his luggage in the trunk. “Boyd is a very lucky man. Okay, I’m going to go and woo the potential love of my life now. Fingers crossed!” 

He rushed into the building like this was a final scene to a romance novel. Stiles was really starting to appreciate what the humans saw in those movies, because a romantic overture like this was kind of a beautiful thing. He really hoped Derek would appreciate it as well, because otherwise, well… It was not going to be pretty. 

The stairs were a bit more of an impediment than they had been when he was still more than human. He was probably going to have to start exercising now, at some point. Ugh, that always looked so tedious when the humans did it - it just did not look fun. Sure, he was not going to fault the results, especially when it came to Derek’s workout regimen, but it did not look like something Stiles Stilinski (wow, that really was quite a name) would enjoy. 

When he reached the right floor, he stopped for a bit to catch his breath. He did not want to be panting and out of breath when he saw Derek again - well, not right away anyway. His dreams over the past few days had made it very obvious that panting was not always a bad thing. 

Not when Derek was involved. Hopefully. Maybe. Hopefully. 

Stiles tried to be subtle when entering the office. The door wasn’t locked, because Derek was hard at work and expecting Boyd and Erica to return from an errand any second now. He hopefully had no idea that said errand involved Stiles - because that would have completely ruined the surprise. And Derek deserved a nice surprise for once. 

Derek was at his desk, completely focused on his laptop screen, fingers flying over the keys at a speed Stiles had only seen once or twice before, when Derek was really in the zone. 

“Hi Boyd,” Derek muttered, not even pausing. “I hope Erica isn’t too unhappy that you have to work late on Valentine’s Day. But we - or I, really - have that interview tomorrow and with Stiles not here, I really need your help. I’m not good at that sort of thing. Talking to people, I mean. People that aren’t you. Or Erica. Or Isaac. Or Stiles. Have you heard from Stiles?” 

Nothing about the office had changed, really. Everything was pretty much still where Stiles had left it, mess included. Stiles’ own desk looked like a tornado had struck it - just as he’d left it. 

But some things had changed, because Derek was doing a real interview. A proper one, with an actual audio recorder present. Sure, he didn’t want his face out there, not yet, (Stiles would work on that,) but he was willing to let the people, to let his fans hear his voice. It was a good voice, and the fans were going to be able to hear how much Derek cared about this story and about these characters. They were going to fall in love with him a little, though hopefully not as much as Stiles had. He wasn’t sure he was up to fighting for Derek, newly human and all that. 

“I’m feeling much better,” Stiles grinned and waited for Derek to notice. 

“That’s great, Stiles,” Derek still did not look up from his laptop. “Has Boyd given you all the information about the interview yet? I told them I’d only do it if you got to ask the questions. Or come up with them, because you’re not… here.” 

And that was when Derek realized he’d been talking to someone who wasn’t even supposed to be on this side of the country. He looked up, his eyes wide behind those ridiculously attractive glasses. His jaw dropped, and he just… stopped. He stopped typing, stopped moving - for a second there Stiles was worried that he’d even stopped breathing. 

“Surprise,” he said, softly, warmly. 

“You’re here,” Derek was still hardly moving. 

At least he was obviously breathing. Humans needed to breathe like all the time - and yeah, Cupids breathed, but it wasn’t as crazy important as it was for humans. The whole oxygen thing wasn’t as vital. 

Stiles just couldn’t stop looking at Derek, at the way his stupid shirt pulled tight over his chest and the top two buttons were unbuttoned - which was something Derek always tended to do, and Stiles had never quite been able to understand why. He had a feeling though, that Derek didn’t like it when his neck was all covered up - he hated ties too. It was disgustingly human, a little quirk that made him grin when he saw it, even though the exposed skin made him blush. 

“In the flesh,” Stiles nodded. “Actual, human flesh. I’m not a mirage, your hand won’t go right through me if you touch me. I’m a legit human Stiles and I’m here.” 

Wow, that was not a great opening line. Though technically that was not his opening line, but still. It was not a great start, and he was going to need to do a whole lot better than this if he wanted to woo Derek. And he really wanted to woo Derek. 

“I can see that,” Derek got up from behind the desk. 

“Can I hug you?” Stiles asked, because he had to ask. “I’d really like that.” 

Because Derek had always been solid and just an inch or so taller than Stiles - he’d never quite been able to see the exact difference - but before, Stiles hadn’t been able to feel it like he would be able to now. Cupids didn’t get that skin hunger, that need for human contact, that craving that Stiles already had for something he’d never had before. Human touch. 

“Yes,” Derek’s voice was hoarse as he stepped closer to Stiles. 

“Awesome,” Stiles just grinned and leapt at Derek impulsively. 

Apparently he was a lot more impulsive as a human, which definitely would have been a nice thing to know about before he threw himself at Derek. Still, Derek just wrapped Stiles up in his arms and held him tight, his face pressed into Stiles’ neck. For a second there, Stiles could have sworn that Derek was sniffing at him, but that was probably his muddled human senses talking - because he’d already found out that humans didn’t do that sort of thing. 

That was a thing only… werewolves did like that. 

“Oh,” Stiles whispered, his breath on Derek’s skin. “Werewolves are real.” 

Derek started shaking in Stiles’ arms, and he broke away immediately, worried he’d scared or hurt Derek somehow with his impulsive words. 

“You’re a ridiculous human being,” Derek was laughing at him. 

“Yes,” Stiles smiled at him in return. “I am.” 

Because he was, and he was perfectly fine with that, if that meant he got to have this, got to have Derek’s strong arms around him, and Derek’s laughter vibrating in the air, and Derek’s bunny teeth peeking out from his smile. If it meant that he got to have Derek. 

“You are now,” Derek remarked, kind of pointedly. “I’ve never been able to figure out what you were before, but it wasn’t human. You smelled of magic before. I would have called you a Spark, but those died out ages ago. There’s just Druids and Mages now. And Darachs, if Druids go dark. Even my Mom had never seen a Spark in her lifetime.” 

It felt sweet, to have no lies between them, to be completely himself in front of Derek and not have to worry about coming up with stories and tales to convince him that Stiles was a perfectly normal human. Because even though he was a human now, there was no way that he was going to be a perfectly normal one. Probably not ever. That was not the kind of person he was. 

“We do speak of Sparks,” Stiles tried to explain. “But I don’t know that we are Sparks. We call ourselves Cupids, and the Spark is what we send to humans. When they’re with someone they’d match well with. When we show them an opportunity for love. It’s up to them to take it, of course. You were the most frustrating assignment I’d ever had - because you never took any of the opportunities. You never responded to anyone like you did to… me.” 

The look on Derek’s face was pensive, yet also kind of intrigued. Stiles was not going to be surprised if Sparks and Cupids started showing up in book six (or perhaps even seven, if Derek was not ready to let these characters go yet). Derek apparently really liked to pull concepts from real life, even though the story was not really based on reality. 

Because Tyler’s family was whole still. And because Tyler and Dylan didn’t hold each other like this, not yet. Maybe they would eventually, though. If Stiles had his way. 

“There’s no one like you,” Derek made it sound like a romantic declaration. 

And maybe it was, for someone who spoke Derek. Stiles wasn’t fluent yet, but he was willing to work for it, to wait for it. He was going to learn that like he’d learn to be convincingly human. It was going to take a bit of time though. 

“I made a choice,” Stiles made a declaration of his own. “The work, or my own chance at love. My own opportunity, to take if I wanted to. My chance at a family, at a Dad and a dead Mom that I love so much. I didn’t just choose you. I chose all of it.” 

That was something that Derek simply had to know, because this wasn’t just about Derek. Sure, he was a huge part of this - and hopefully he always would be. But it was also about seeing the regret in Allison’s eyes and the way that Noah was still so sure he’d made the right choice, even though he’d only gotten part of a lifetime with Claudia. And it was having a friend like Boyd and a mentor like Noah and maybe even an Erica eventually. 

All of these connections, no more loneliness. It was intoxicating. 

“Good,” Derek sounded almost smug about it. 

Stiles was almost breathless. “Yeah?”

Because Derek was moving closer again, and he was pretty damn sure that this was not going to just be a hug. Stiles was pretty damn sure that Derek wanted to kiss him - because he kept looking at Stiles’ mouth and his eyes were dark and Stiles felt  _ want _ for the first time. 

“Really good,” Derek whispered. 

“Oh, just kiss me already,” Stiles huffed and pulled Derek closer. 

This was technically his first kiss - actually, not just technically. Stiles pulled Derek in and essentially stole his own first kiss. He pressed his mouth up against Derek’s and felt a shiver run through his entire body. He was getting hot and Derek was really warm against his body. Soft, wet lips pressed against his own so gently. 

Did Derek know that Stiles had only ever watched from afar before? 

“Show me,” Stiles muttered against Derek’s lips. 

Derek chuckled, and gently moved Stiles’ head just a little, giving him the perfect angle to what Stiles wanted to describe as plundering his mouth. Derek kissed with confidence, his tongue a tease and an occasional nibble on his lower lip. Stiles gasped, tried to give everything he had to kiss Derek back the way he deserved to be kissed back. 

“You’re good at that,” he had to pull away to breathe way too soon. “Boy do I miss my superior lung capacity now. I wanna keep doing that forever.” 

After a few seconds of trying to stop panting, he drew Derek in for another kiss. And another, and another, until he’d lost count. He only stopped when Derek’s hands tried to push up his shirt in an attempt to get him undressed. 

“We can’t,” he pouted at Derek. “Erica made me promise not to have sex in the office.” 

That was probably a bit of a boner killer. Boners were another weird human thing that he was going to have to get used to, but one he was kind of thrilled about. He couldn’t fucking wait until Derek touched him some more, and he got to touch Derek without all of these pesky clothes in the way, and the possibility of Erica and/or Boyd catching them at it. 

This just wasn’t the right place or time. Not yet - it would be, eventually. 

“And I have that interview tomorrow,” Derek sighed. 

“ _ We _ have that interview tomorrow,” Stiles corrected, making sure that Derek knew exactly what he meant. “I hope you didn’t only pick the boring questions. This is your first interview, there’s no way we’re going to let it be boring. All the other ones will probably be boring, but this is the first time. I have to make it good for you.” 

Yeah, he heard what happened there, and apparently so did Derek, because his werewolf (he could totally call Derek his now) was looking at him through hooded eyes, as if he was seriously contemplating how best to devour Stiles. 

Fuck. After this interview, they were going to lock themselves in a room somewhere and not come out for several days. He was sure Erica would be in support of that, and Boyd. And Derek too, judging by the look on his face. Derek was already stalking towards Stiles while Stiles took a couple of steps back from the sheer amount of  _ predator _ Derek was exuding, almost prowling towards him until Stiles was pressed up against the office door. 

“I’ll make it good for you,” Derek promised, hot breath against Stiles’ ear. “I’ll make it so good for you that you’ll never want to leave my bed.” 

Stiles was pretty sure his brain was leaking out his ears. How was he supposed to think about anything but this? Was this why humans were so ridiculously unproductive once they’d accepted the Spark, had taken the opportunity? Because right now, the last thing he wanted to think about was work, or anything that wasn’t Derek. 

Alas, he had to. At least for a little while. 

“You’re killing me,” Stiles groaned as Derek’s mouth found his neck. 

Werewolves had a neck thing, didn’t they? He really should have done some werewolf research that was not reading Derek’s books again. In the books, werewolf romantic and sexual preferences weren’t really discussed - Derek wasn’t really interested in writing erotic scenes (not intentionally anyway, because by the way some of the fans were talking about some of the early Tyler and Dylan scenes? Oh boy did it work unintentionally). 

So he probably had to do the research in person. With Derek. 

That was not a bad thing. 

“Okay, okay,” Stiles knew Derek had left a mark by the time he managed to pull him off. “I want this too, more than you know, but… not here. Interview first, and then after that you can keep me in bed for as long as you want. But be gentle, I’m only human.” 

It was Valentine’s Day, a day for new lovers. A day of firsts, a day of romance. And Mieczyslaw “Stiles” Stilinski was in love, and happy to be human. 


End file.
